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Daniel Farke addresses the media ahead of Norwich City's Championship tie against Bristol City. Updates to come from 1.45pm.
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DF: I can't confirm anything right now, but we are interested in Dimitris Giannoulis and in advanced talks. One thing I know in this business is it's not done until it's done, we definitely want to sign a left full-back and he is our choice, we hope the deal is done soon.

DF: Nothing will happen with Emi Buendia this month. In this business you can't confirm something with 100% guarantee, but I'd label it 99%. If I judge it in an objective way, it makes no sense for any of my players to leave at this moment and it makes no sense for the club to sell our players in January.

DF: We're in a fantastic position, it's nearly the end of January and the season will then end in four months. If a club bigger than us is interested in you and they say he should be our long-term solution, then there is always a deal possible, but not in January. We're not desperate to earn more money, we want to have success and don't want to risk selling our key players.

DF: We're not working like a bank, we're not maximising our incomes, we're maximising our success to return to the Premier League level. Just one transfer fee of a player can risk this project, it makes no sense.

DF: Teemu Pukki will be out, the situation with his side strain is much improved, but we expect him to be out for the FA Cup also. It's a bit too soon to bring him back. Tim Krul is much improved after his COVID situation, he was out on the training pitch. If he goes through this afternoon's training session he may be involved tomorrow.

DF: Christoph Zimmermann will miss tomorrow with a slight hip muscle strain. I hope he's ready to go for Saturday, but he misses this game. We have Xavi Quintilla and Bali Mumba out for COVID reasons. Adam Idah has recovered, but is still finishing his rehab so will not be involved.

DF: We're not looking too much at other results, you never know who is in the best position. It's always a bit tricky, I expect the other competitors to win their games in hand, so even if we win it's not like we're seven points clear. In the Championship, it's all about consistency, we have to keep going.

DF: We want to play on Premier League level, we are in this position, we're there playing the best season in the history of the club so far in difficult circumstances. I can't complain too much and have to praise my lads, but it's not done and we have to keep going. There's still lots of work to do.

DF: I think there are similarities to two years ago, but I'd still label it slightly differently because no one expected us to be top. The burden of being favourite is on our shoulders nearly every game. Everyone is aware of our strengths, so I'd label this season much more difficult because every opponent tries to be there with their game of the season. It's much more difficult to be successful this season than two years ago.

DF: I'm not sure, perhaps it's just us doing it the hard way, but I'd prefer to be comfortable in the lead. The Championship is tight and we always have to be focused. I really like this winning mentality that we're able to bring a tight lead over the line, I'm pleased with the maturity and mentality.

DF: We have to be careful, it was pretty serious for Tim Krul, he had proper symptoms of COVID. From a legal point of view he could've played Cardiff, but he felt really down. Every human being is more important than success on the football pitch.

DF: Lukas [Rupp] will return to training today, he was out with two muscle injuries then flu. Josh [Martin] was out with the flu for quite long, but he's also back and a topic for tomorrow.

DF: I'd label Adam's [Idah] rehab as at the finishing stages, I'm pretty hopeful he can return to team training next week. He's back in our group doing individual stuff.

DF: I can't confirm anything and don't want to comment on too many rumours, but we have three positions where we will stay awake until the end of January, left-back, centre-back and goalkeeper. The left-back situation is the most urgent since Xavi Quintilla is our only specialist. I'm pretty hopeful in the next few days we can confirm the signing of a left-back.

DF: I think it's always important to stay calm and stay level, it's difficult for young players to reach their best level. The best players in the world are consistent and even on a poorer day they're solid and reliable. We want to develop our young players in this way, we have the feeling they're totally on the right path. I'm never over the moon after one good performance, they have to show this consistently.

DF: Bristol is a good side, they're flexible and change formation during the game, it's difficult to prepare for them. They play pretty brave. They had one or two set-backs but don't change behaviour and go for it. They had a good run of form and are pretty close to being back in the top six. They're away to the league leaders, they'll go for it.

DF: It's always better to be in the best position because it means you have more points than the others. Thank God during my career as a coach, even in Germany, I was able to lift a trophy. You have to create a winning mentality and keep going, even through set-backs.

DF: We don't want to go behind, we want to be in a winning position. I expect a really tough test tomorrow, we have to be fully switched on and focused.

DF: Emotions are a little bit out of the game, you have to create this greediness. It's different to a fully-packed Carrow Road where nearly 30,000 people try to push you on. It's a credit to the players that we can create this mentality in the group and we have to keep it going.

DF: Everyone is aware that this virus can cause many problems, we're lucky to have had minor symptoms. When we announced the numbers last week, it was difficult to focus on the match. It's many compliments to my players for the result against Cardiff.

DF: You could argue that my players are young athletes and are not in the high-risk group, but they all have families, partners, children, parents, so they're in contact with high-risk people. We're in a privileged position to be in this club, but they're still just human beings. When they have to play and keep going, it's not easy.

DF: It's always better to have all the players available, especially someone of Teemu Pukki's quality. I trust my full group, not just Jordan [Hugill]. We had to play without our number one or two goalkeepers, a left-back or a striker. We need players like Teemu Pukki and Tim Krul back, but I trust my players that we'll find a way to get the points tomorrow.

DF: We're playing the best season in our history, we've never had more than 50 points after 24 games, so everyone has the right to be happy with this. It would be much more exciting to celebrate these wins at Carrow Road with the fans, I can't wait to have our supporters back so we can interact more. I hope we can cheer them up with these performances during these difficult and dark times.

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That's all from the boss this afternoon, thank you for following today's live blog.

Posted By: DrDublin on January 19th 2021 at 14:33:42

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